Ajuga plant named ‘Toffee Chip’

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct form of  Ajuga reptans  plant characterized by its unique foliage coloration and markings. Mature leaves are colored gold to cream on the margin with shades of gray green in the center. New leaves show brown and khaki shades. It has a dwarf habit, small, narrow leaves, and blue flowers on ten centimeter spikes.

Botanical Denomination: Ajuga reptans.

Variety Designation: ‘Toffee Chip’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Ajuga reptans, given the name, ‘Toffee Chip’. Ajuga is in the family Lamiaceae. This plant originated from a naturally occurring meristematic mutation of Ajuga ‘Chocolate Chip’ (an unpatented plant with the synonym ‘Valfredda’). The mutated plant was found in a garden at an Oregon nursery.

This plant is unique in its foliage coloration and markings. Mature leaves are colored gold to cream on the margin with shades of gray green in the center. New leaves show brown and khaki shades. ‘Toffee Chip’ has the same great attributes of its parent, the dwarf habit, the small, narrow leaves and blue flowers on ten centimeter spikes.

The new variety has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (division and micropropagation). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by division and micropropagation as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The drawing shows a two-year-old Ajuga ‘Toffee Chip’ growing in the garden in fall in Canby, Oreg.

DETAILED PLANT DESCRIPTION

The following is a detailed description of the new Ajuga cultivar based on observations of two-year-old specimen grown outside in the ground in the garden in Canby, Oreg. The color descriptions are all based on The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart.

-   Plant:     -   -   Form.—Stoloniferous, herbaceous perennial.         -   Cold hardiness.—USDA Zone 4-9.         -   Size.—Grow to 23 cm wide and 5 cm high.         -   Vigor.—Good.         -   Stem.—Rosette.         -   Roots.—White 155B, thickened to fibrous, plants root easily             from divisions.         -   Stolons.—White 155B, 1.5 mm wide, internodes grow to 14 mm             long. -   Leaf:     -   -   Type.—Simple.         -   Arrangement.—Opposite in a basal rosette.         -   Shape.—Spatulate.         -   Venation.—Pinnate.         -   Margins.—Entire.         -   Apex.—Obtuse.         -   Base.—Attenuate.         -   Blade size.—Grows to 3.4 cm long and 1 cm wide.         -   Surface texture.—Very sparsely pubescent on both sides.         -   Petiole description.—1 cm long and 2 mm wide, very sparsely             pubescent, Yellow Green 146D with maroon tinted base, Greyed             Red 178A.         -   Leaf color.—Top side — very young leaves — Greyed Green 197A             overall, giving the toffee color. — mature leaves — outer             margin is Greyed Yellow 160B with the center two tones of             grey green, Greyed Green 191A and 191C. — older leaves —             outer margin is Yellow White 158A with the center two tones             of grey green, Greyed Green 191A and 191C. Bottom side —             same. -   Inflorescence:     -   -   Type.—Terminal spike.         -   Number of flowers.—70 per spike in two to five flowered,             dense whorls.         -   Peduncle.—9.5 cm tall and 2.3 mm wide, pubescent, Grey Green             191A with tints of Greyed Orange 197A.         -   Pedicel.—None, flowers sessile.         -   Floral leaves.—Subtending flowers, sessile, ovate to broadly             elliptic, size changes from bottom leaf 1.3 cm wide and 1.6             cm long to top floral leaves 6 mm long and 2.5 mm wide,             color same as older leaves above.         -   Bloom period.—April to June in Canby, Oreg. -   Flower bud:     -   -   Size.—7 mm long and 2 mm wide at the widest point prior to             opening.         -   Description.—Tubular.         -   Surface texture.—Villous.         -   Color.—Closest to Violet Blue 97A. -   Flower:     -   -   Type.—Zygomorphic.         -   Shape.—Bilabiate.         -   Corolla description.—1 cm long and spreads to 4.5 mm wide,             tube and throat 5 mm long and 1 mm to 1.5 mm wide, 2 small             upper lobes less than 1 mm long and wide, acute, three lower             lobes, two spreading sideways, the terminal lobe two lobed             and obovate, entire, glabrous inside, villous outside, color             inside Violet Blue 94B, outside Violet Blue 91A.         -   Calyx description.—5 lobed, acute, entire, pubescent             outside, glabrous inside.         -   Pistil description.—9 mm long, ovary 0.5 mm long, Yellow             Green 146C, style and stigma 8.5 mm long, Violet Blue 92 A             at the tip to 92D at the base.         -   Stamen description.—4.         -   Fragrance.—None.         -   Lastingness.—A spike blooms for about 3 weeks on the plant. -   Fruit: None, plant sterile. -   Seed: None, plant sterile. -   Pests and diseases: Ajuga are known to be susceptible to southern     blight and various fungal leaf spots, crown rot, and fungal root     rot. The new cultivar has shown good mildew resistance in Canby,     Oreg. -   Comparisons: Compared to Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chip’ which is     described in the Terra Nova Nurseries 2003 catalog as a “curious,     spreading miniature, chocolate foliage shining with lacy blue     flowers to 3 inches tall,” Ajuga ‘Toffer Chip’ has light gold leaf     margins and a mottled gray green center. It is not as shiny. 

1. A new and distinct form of Ajuga plant substantially as shown and described. 